The Lake Forest College women's lacrosse team is making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and will take on DePauw University at Kenyon College in Saturday's opening round.
Lake Forest qualified for the postseason by posting a convincing 16-6 victory at the College of Saint Benedict in the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference Tournament Final last Saturday. The Foresters won six of seven league games during the regular season and defeated the University of Northwestern-St. Paul 10-7 in the semifinals of the MWLC Tournament last Wednesday. Saturday's triumph evened their overall record at 9-9.
DePauw is 11-5 overall and finished fourth in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with a 3-3 record in the league. The Tigers were defeated at conference champion Kenyon in the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament last Wednesday and were one of 13 teams, including three from their league, to earn a Pool C bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Foresters enter the tournament with victories in 8 of 11 contests since April 1 while DePauw is 2-4 since the team's eight-game winning streak ended on April 15. Both teams have come out on top three times in contests decided by three goals or fewer, including a pair of overtime wins for the Tigers.
Juniors Ali Graham and Ryleigh Nelson lead Lake Forest with 63 and 60 points, respectively. Graham has edged out sophomore Jenna Doctor 47-43 for the team lead in goals so far this spring while Nelson's 31 assists are easily the most on the squad.
The versatile Graham has also excelled other statistical categories, leading the Foresters with 53 ground balls, 53 draw controls, and 46 caused turnovers. Sophomore Krissy Kuwahara is next on the team in all three categories with 43 ground balls, 43 draw controls, and 20 caused turnovers.
Sophomore Calliope Saban, the team's primary goalie, stopped 9 of 14 shots on goal in the MWLC Tournament final and owns a .595 save percentage in her last four games.
Bria Randolph leads DePauw with 61 points and 38 assists while Abby Keane and Emily Napier share team-high honors with 46 goals apiece. They are joined by Graesen Campbell and Bridget Driscoll as five Tigers who have at least 48 points on the year.
Like Graham for the Foresters, Driscoll fills up the DePauw stat sheets and leads the team with 62 ground balls, 146 draw controls, and 41 caused turnovers.
Lydia Hollis has played the entire season in goal for the Tigers and owns an 11.14 goals against average.
Lake Forest's Wei Chenh is in her first year at the team's head coach while DePauw's Anne Moelk is 32-15 in her fourth season at DePauw, which is also making its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Saturday's meeting will take place at The Field at Benson Bowl on the campus of Kenyon College with the opening draw scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (ET) The weather forecast calls for rain showers and temperatures in the 40s.
The winner will take on Kenyon (17-1) Sunday afternoon at 1:00 (ET).